CBC Needs New Chief Executive

By RUDY BUTTIGNOL, President and CEO of British Columbia’s Knowledge Network Corporation; President of BBC Kids

The CBC losing NHL hockey was inevitable. In my opinion, however, the CBC’s crisis is not about money – it’s about mandate and governance.

Three public policy proposals hold the most promise for fundamental, structural change. The most essential is the elimination of all advertising. It distorts the public service mission and treats viewers as consumers to be captured and measured for the benefit of advertisers. With the elimination of advertising all other decisions will follow. That’s the job of the talented professionals; to interpret the public interest and design a relevant strategy that connects the public broadcaster to its public.

Secondly, the CBC’s President is currently a political appointment made by the Federal Cabinet. Instead, following best practices in contemporary governance, the CBC’s Board of Directors needs to be empowered to hire its chief executive. This would establish a true arm’s-length relationship between the CBC and Government.

Finally, over the last three decades, it has made little difference whether the party in power is red or blue. It is clear there is no new money forthcoming from Government. Instead, the CBC’s public service mandate needs to be fundamentally restructured in order to match its resources to its most important priorities.

The CBC needs to regain the trust and loyalty of all Canadians. Critics spend too much time on operational issues best left to professional management, and too little time explaining how to convince the CBC’s major stakeholder, the Federal Government, to make fundamental changes to its governance and mandate. (Globe and Mail)

Globe and Mail Reader comment

Foster  The problem with the CBC is that it is run like the government. Senior employees who have creative control over content will keep their jobs regardless of the success of projects. In Hollywood, a few lemon shows (or maybe even one) will likely get you canned – it’s quite the incentive to seek out  really good shows and content. Unfortunately, the unionized senior employees do not lose their jobs for inadequacy and continue to release mediocrity.

L.v  Why has head of the CBC been a government-appointed job all these years?

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